Romance
Hey guys! Thanks for continuing to check out my photography and the various blog entries about past the photo shoots.
Romance
Continuing on with the photo shoots from 2013, I'm now at the photo shoot with Romance. I will say that it was an interesting experience working with him. Initially, I was interested in working with him because of his interest in martial arts and the fact that he had been part of a dance troop. Given those experiences, I thought that it would be easy to get him into various poses since both activities made him aware of positioning and movement in general. So yeah, I was definitely excited to be working with him.
Of course, reality did not exactly meet expectations. Romance did know how to work his body and hit various movements and positions, but I found myself getting a little frustrated because the positioning wasn't exactly what I was expected or wanted. I kept having to pull him back from poses that I thought were too feminine for a male model to be in. It wasn't exactly blatant, but it was minor things like the positioning of his hands or the turn of the his body that had me cringing and redirecting him into a slightly different pose.
In addition to having to be a little more direct in terms of posing, I also had to pull Romance back from positions that were a little too sexually blatant. I don't generally get guys to get into "sexy" positions; I tend to let it happen and focus more on the just capturing moments that I find interesting and working on images that have an appeal to me. I'm not exactly looking for a guy to pose sexily. However, with Romance, I found myself having to pull him back from getting into too sexually charged poses. Throughout the photo shoot, I kept calling him a "sex kitten" in my head and sighing each time that he would hit a position. Sometimes the positions worked, but most of the time I would try and redirect him back from them.
So yeah, it was definitely interesting to work with Romance. Of course, I definitely was able to pull out several images to highlight from the photo shoot.
Style and Attitude
As I mentioned previously, I definitely find it interesting to see how guys will come dressed to the photo shoots. When Romance showed up, he was wearing a white button down shirt, black vest, and black slacks. And sunglasses, at night. Yeah, I was definitely intrigued. More importantly, I definitely noticed that Romance was projecting a certain sense of style and attitude that would definitely translate over into the images. As such, I wanted to capture some of that attitude, which I think I did in the image below. You can definitely see the attitude and defiance in the position of his head as well as in his facial expression.
And, of course, I definitely took the opportunity to do a black and white image with a splash of color. As I mentioned before, Romance had come into the photo shoot dressed up. But what stood out for me, besides the attitude, was that bright red tie. When I was editing this image and converted it to black and white, I definitely knew that I was going to create a version of this with the red popping out. I'm definitely happy with how the image turned out.
As I mentioned earlier, Romance definitely came to the photo shoot with some sexually charged poses. While I was somewhat frustrated with them during the shoot, I did find that some of them worked really well and translated well into the images. I definitely love the image below. While there is a sexual element to the image below, it's really the pose that I love in the image. I love the positioning of his left hand against his neck and the slight turn of his head. In addition, I like the somewhat relaxed facial expression. Overall, I thought the pose worked and looked good without being too sexually driven.
Underwear
As usual, I photographed Romance wearing a variety of underwear throughout the photo shoot. During the photo shoot with Brent (http://www.reyjphotography.com/brent), I had photographed him in a pair of blue striped C-IN2 briefs. For Romance, I decided to photograph him a different pair of C-IN2 briefs that were predominately red. Of course, I knew that I was going to convert the image into black and white and hoped that it would turn out well. I was definitely happy with the way that the briefs turned in the various shades of gray. The pattern of the briefs definitely highlight the contours of his lower body as well as looking good visually.
I am happy with how the image turned out overall. I do like the profile pose with the slight turn of his shoulders. I like how how his shoulders mimic his lower body and creates a sense of repetition, but that may be me reading into the image. But I do love how the lines of his body tends to lead the eye upward - from his right arm and the position of his right thigh to his left hand across his chest leading to his right shoulder. I think the pose definitely highlights his physique overall while leading the eye upwards to his face.
In addition to the pose and briefs, I also like the lighting in the image. While not as dramatic as some of the lighting that I have used in the past, I do like the tonality that was produced by it. I like how it fades into the shadows on the right side of his body and seems to anchor the image. I also like how it creates the highlights and mid tones across his face while also highlighting some of the details. Like I said, overall, I like the image and was easy to see why I choose to highlight the image.
Favorite Image from the Photo Shoot
There were definitely several images that I could have selected as my overall favorite image from the photo shoot. However, there was one that definitely stood out from the rest. I know that some people are not interested in black and white images with pops of color, but I am partial to them. As such, I was definitely drawn to the image below for the overall pose and the use of the tie as a prop, but also for the color treatment.
As I said, I do like the overall pose. As I mentioned earlier, I had to rein in Romance from getting into positions that I thought were too sexually charged. However, I think the image below actually works. Again, I like the details from the tucked in button down into his slacks to the highlights on his belt and chain. Of course, I love the tilt of his head as well as facial expression. It definitely adds to the sensual nature of the pose and the use of the tie as a prop.
However, it's the tie being pulled across his face that takes center stage. I love how it covers one of his eyes and creates a diagonal across his face. On a side note, I do love that you can see the interesting details of his eye lashes. While I think it would have still been an interesting image without the color splash, I definitely think that add the red creates a stunning visual counterpoint. To me, it helps to anchor and add some weight to the image. Additionally, it adds to the sexual nature of the image since red is often considered the color of passion. For me, overall, it helped to create an interesting image that became my overall favorite from the photo shoot.
Overall, I liked working with Romance throughout the shoot. Sure, there were times that I was rolling my eyes or sighing internally, but I definitely think that we produced some really interesting images. I would definitely be willing to work with him in future photo shoots, even knowing that I would have to rein him back or lead him into slightly different poses. Nonetheless, Romance was definitely fun to work with and I can see myself working with him on a different project.
For additional images from the photo shoot, check them out at http://www.reyjphotography.com/romance.